QUANTUM PHYSICS, PHILOSOPHY, AND THE IMAGE OF GOD: INSIGHTS FROM WOLFGANG PAULI

Abstract. Nobel Laureate in physics Wolfgang Pauli studied philosophy and the history of ideas intensively, especially in his later years, to form an accurate ontology vis-à-vis quantum theory. Pauli's close contacts with the Swiss psychiatrist C.G. Jung gave him special qualifications for also understanding the basic problems of empirical knowledge. After Pauli's sudden death in 1958, this work was maintained mainly in his posthumously published correspondence, which so far extends only to 1939. Because Pauli's view differs essentially from the direction physics research took after the deaths of the founding fathers of quantum theory, this article attempts to describe the main features in Pauli's revolutionary thought, which is based on nature's "epistemological lesson" as revealed by Pauli's atomic research. Pauli's conclusions have important implications for various issues in Western culture, not least with the limits of science and the relation of science to religion.     

Risky choice as a function of amount and variance in food supply.

In Experiment 1, 4 rats earned their daily food ration by choosing on a trials basis between a "risky" and a "riskless" lever. The risky lever produced either 15 45-mg food pellets or no pellets, and on average provided five pellets per choice. The riskless lever always produced three pellets. Across conditions, the number of trials per session was varied. Body weight and choice of the risky lever decreased as the number of trials per session decreased, even though body weight could only be defended by increased choice of the risky lever. In Experiment 2, trials per session were fixed, but the number of pellets delivered by the risky and riskless levers was either at the same level as in Experiment 1 or tripled from those levels. Now choice of the risky lever was inversely related to the size of reinforcement and to body weight. The results of these experiments show that risk aversion covaries with the amount of food available in a session and the daily variance in the amount of food earned.     

Neonatal imitation, gaze aversion, and mother-infant interaction

A relationship between elicited imitation in neonates and social interaction has been proposed by several investigators. The present work examines if such a relationship can be found when studying neonatal imitation, gaze aversion, and mother-infant interaction. Thirty-two infants were observed at 2 to 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months of age. Imitation of tongue protrusion and mouth opening was assessed in all three observations. In addition, a face-to-face interaction between mother and child was included when the child reached 3 months of age. The most striking result was a negative relationship between the infants' brief gaze aversion observed at 3 months of age while interacting with their mothers and the infants' imitative reactions at 2 to 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months of age. Behaviorally, these patterns indicate that high-imitating infants tend to display fewer episodes of brief gaze aversion when interacting with their mothers.     

Aversive potency of urine from dominant and subordinate male laboratory mice (Mus musculus): Resolution of a conflict

The present study assessed the aversive potency of urine collected from male albino mice that had been clearly identified as dominants/winners or subordinates/losers of paired aggression tests and then housed either individually or in a quasi-paired situation in which only a wire-mesh divider separated the two mice. This divider permitted constant visual, olfactory, auditory, and some tactile contact. The responses of individually tested, group-housed males were recorded when half of the substrate in a test box was treated with either water or one of the four urine types; the other half remained untreated. Significant preferences for the untreated half were found when the urine of winners or losers housed in individual metabolism cages or that of pair-housed dominants was used as the test stimulus. On the other hand, neither water nor the urine of cohabiting subordinate males was avoided. The present findings confirmed our earlier reports that the urine of dominant male mice was aversive, whereas that of their cohabiting subordinate partners was not. They also identified Sawyer's [1978] procedure of housing winners and losers in individual cages, with the consequent interruption of social contact as the likely reason for his failure to replicate our reports that subordinate male urine lacked aversive properties. The territorial implications of the aversive factor and other urinary signals are discussed.     

Intolerance of uncertainty and difficulties in emotion regulation: Proposal for an integrative model of generalized anxiety disorder

Introduction

The Intolerance of Uncertainty Model (IUM) is a well-tested model of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Sample Size Planning for Detecting Mediation Effects: A Power Analysis Procedure Considering Uncertainty in Effect Size Estimates

Abstract

When planning mediation studies, researchers are often interested in the sample size needed to achieve adequate power for testing mediation. Power depends on population effect sizes, which are unknown in practice. In conventional power analysis, effect size estimates, however, are often used as population values, which could result in underpowered studies. Uncertainty in effect size estimates has been considered in other sample size planning contexts (e.g., t-test, ANOVA), but has not been handled properly for planning mediation studies. In the current study, we proposed an easy-to-use sample size planning method for testing mediation with uncertainty in effect size estimates considered. We conducted simulation studies to demonstrate the impact of uncertainty in effect size estimates on power of testing mediation, and to provide sample size suggestions under different levels of uncertainty. Empirical examples were provided to illustrate the application of our method. R functions and a web application were developed to facilitate implementation.     

Causal uncertainty during initial interactions

Causal uncertainty (CU) refers to persistent doubts people have about their ability to understand causes of social events. Although such confusion about social dynamics should affect social exchanges, previous research has been limited to the realm of social cognition (i.e., computer‐based studies exploring perceptions of hypothetical others). In three studies, we explored CU effects during real‐time social interactions with unacquainted conversational partners. We found that high CU participants perceived their conversations and conversational partners more negatively than did low CU participants and that these negative social perceptions stemmed from an inability to sufficiently reduce their cognitive uncertainty. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does the Candidate Matter? Comparing the Voting Choice of Early and Late Deciders

Candidate personality traits have long been recognized as influential in the determination of voting choice. However, little is understood of how the perception of candidates' traits influences different categories of voters. Based on a large‐scale electoral‐panel survey (ITANES, ITAlian National Election Studies), the present study investigated whether the voting choice of early and late deciders differentially relied on candidate traits. Results showed that after considering the influence of ideology and economy assessment, candidate traits still influenced the voting choice of early deciders and, even more, of late deciders. However, while early deciders took into account both incumbent and challenger traits, late deciders mainly relied on incumbent traits. Political sophistication moderated this effect, with high‐sophisticated early deciders relying even more on the challenger, and low‐sophisticated late deciders relying even more on the incumbent. The distinction between incumbent and challenger is discussed as a key variable in explaining the role of candidate traits in the choice of voters differing as to voting decision time and political sophistication.     

ADHD的抑制缺陷和厌恶延迟—来自双通道理论的解释

行为抑制理论认为抑制功能的落后是ADHD的核心缺损所在,Sonuga-Barke的厌恶延迟理论认为ADHD起因是厌恶延迟而非抑制缺损,但该理论并不能解释ADHD的全部症状,Sonuga-Barke将厌恶延迟理论作了修正,提出了双通道模型。该模型认为ADHD的抑制缺陷和厌恶延迟同时存在,相互独立,模型的认知发展通道关注抑制控制缺陷对ADHD的影响,而动机发展通道则认为ADHD儿童是因奖励回路紊乱而引起异常的厌恶延迟的动机风格。本文介绍了双通道理论及相关的研究及其应用于ADHD诊断和干预的价值和局限性。     

自尊与模糊决策中的决策偏好

从自尊的角度出发,与是否需要承担决策结果的责任相结合,探讨了低自尊、中等自尊和高自尊水平下的被试在模糊决策中的决策偏好。结果发现：角色差异对决策偏好没有影响;自尊水平的高低对决策偏好有影响,高自尊被试与中等、低自尊被试相比,更容易模糊规避。支持了高自尊个体比低自尊个体更具有防御反应的理论。